Let Mrs Hinch give your boudoir a clean sheet
Bicarb on your mattress, vacuum packs for your clothes — and clever tips for your make-up brushes... In the latest part of our sparkling series, the cleaning sensation moves into YOUR bedroom
SHE’S the former Essex hairdresser whose infectious enthusiasm for cleaning and down-to-earth personality have made her an Instagram — and publishing — star. Mrs Hinch — real name Sophie Hinchliffe — started posting about her cleaning routines on social media after discovering that setting to with mop and bucket or cloths and disinfectant helped calm her anxiety. But people loved her tips — as well as her habit of giving nicknames to her tools and products — so much so that she now has 3.2 million Instagram followers, called ‘Hinchers’. Her bestselling books have sold almost a million copies. Married to Jamie Hinchliffe, and now mum to baby Ronnie, Sophie, 30, is also a doting owner to cocker spaniel Henry. But whether you’re concerned about keeping coronavirus at bay or are having to do without a weekly cleaner while we’re under government orders to stay safe at home, there has never been a better time for a spring clean. So far, Mrs Hinch has helped make your kitchen sparkle and your living room gleam. Today, she shows you how to get an airy and wellorganised bedroom — and her secret to cracking the cleaning in just 30 minutes.
BED FIT FOR A KING AND QUEEN
WHEN the house has been Hinched and my wax melts are filling the home with my favourite smells, there’s no better feeling for me. I relax and switch off and it’s almost like a mini therapy session.
Each day the beds are made and sprayed with F ebreze — I love Febreze — and I change the sheets once a week,but it’s recommended you turn your mattress once a month and refresh it every three to six months. And here’s how to do it! Completely strip your bed down to its naked self! Vacuum your mattress to within an inch of its life; you’ll get rid of all the dead skin cells and dust.
Using a flour sieve, shake bicarbonate of soda evenly all over the mattress — remember this incredible stuff is an odour eater You can also add a few drops of essential oil to the bicarb to leave a residual smell. Lavender is amazing to use on a mattress because it’s calming and soothing at bedtime.
Leave for a few hours at least and then vacuum it off — it will lift out any nasty whiffs. Especially if you have kids that have had an accident in the bed! Urine smell — see ya later!
DUVETS ARE A BREEZE WITH MRS HINCH
LEt’s face it, we all hate changing duvet covers. Well, I certainly do! I think the quickest way to change your duvet is to turn the quilt cover inside out, pop your hands into the inside corners, grab the duvet on the corners and then tip the duvet cover back on to it.
shake them together until the quilt cover has fallen over the whole duvet and you’re done!
It works so well and it ’s quick , and that’s what we all want with this nightmare job.
Once the fresh sheets are on, the bed has been made and the cushions have been karate chopped, give the whole bed a quick spritz with a spray bottle full of your fave fabric freshener , such as F ebreze. It smells L UsH!
Also, remember , once you ’ ve washed your bedding , to store your duvet cover, sheet and pillowcases inside one of the pillowcases belonging to the set.
that way you ’ll keep the whole collection neatly together and you won’t be hunting around your linen storage on duvetchanging day trying to find any missing pieces!
SECRETS OF A WELL-ORGANISED WARDROBE
tHErE aren’t many things that are as upsetting as a messy wardrobe. I looked in mine one day and I thought, ‘that ’s got to be revamped.’ My clothes were all on mismatched hangers, some had fallen on the floor , the door was struggling to close, and it certainly didn’t look organised.
I found some lovely grey felt hangers on eBay that were so reasonably priced. I find they are the best for keeping clothes in the right place. now the hangers are all the same it looks much neater.
I clear my wardrobe out at the end of summer and winter because then I can pack away all the clothes I know I won ’t wear for another six months or so. they’ll go under the bed in storage bags or into the garage until I need them again. I think the best things to use for storing clothes are vacuum bags. I take out any clothes I haven’t worn for a while, fold them and whack them in. Mate, they are a life-changer.
the first time I used them I was shocked that they actually worked but now I’m obsessed. I would honestly happily pack more clothes away just so I could go through the process of attaching the Hoover, sucking all the air out and watching as my clothes shrink to the size of a toddler’s.
I’m not going to lie; the clothes can be pretty creased when you get them out to wear again, but I
think that’s a small price to pay for the utter joy of it all.
I wasn’t quite so joyful when I asked my husband Jamie to put my vacuum-packed clothes into storage for me and he took them to the clothes bank. True story. I had to ask him to go back and get them for me. Lucky for him, they were still there!
I stay on top of my wardrobe by using the same technique as my end-of-year clear-out.
If I haven’t worn something for a year, it goes. I also look at what kind of condition something is in. Even if you love it, if it looks faded, old or bobbly you’re not going to feel good in it.
If I love something, I will wear it quite a lot, and I don’t believe in chucking something out just because everyone’s seen me in it before. I think that’s crazy.
I preserve my clothes by not necessarily washing every item each time I wear it because you don’t always need to.
Some people over-wash their clothes. If you wash them too often they’ll potentially lose their colour or go out of shape.
DON’T FORGET ABOUT YOUR MAKE-UP
My MAkE-up drawer used to be a beauty fail until a Hincher recommended drawer dividers to me and they changed everything. Now I’ve sectioned all of my make-up using drawer dividers and organisers and it looks beautiful. I am easily pleased.
Remember to clean your brushes, too. Think about it, these go on your face every day. Every day! Who knows what’s living in them? They’re every bit as important as our Barry bristle scrubbing brushes.
WET the bristles with lukewarm water and place a drop of make-up-brush cleanser of your choice (or liquid soap) on to a make-up cleansing mat.
I would strongly recommend investing in one of these beauties because they get into all of those annoying nooks and crannies. If you don’t have a cleansing mat, you can also use a Scrub daddy for this purpose. They work really well!
GENTLy massage and rotate the tips of the bristles on the cleansing mat/Scrub daddy and enjoy watching the built- up product run free.
REpEAT until the brush runs clear.
LITTLE TIp: Make sure you keep the brushes face down at all times so the water doesn’t run into the metal section or the handle. That’s where the glue is and it holds the hairs together.
SMooTH the brushes into shape and allow them to dry.